Mike Trout Leads Angels Over Mariners; Halladay Wins 16th for Phillies

Players of the Day for Tuesday, August 30, 2011

American League

Trout: 5 RBI

In the AL West, every game for the two front-runners - the Angels and Rangers - is critical as the days and number of games dwindle down toward the end of the season.

After dropping two of three to the Rangers over the weekend, the Angels promptly lost one of those critical contests at Seattle on Monday, 5-3, but came back strong with a 13-6 romp over the division's cellar dweller.

The offense came mainly from rookie call-up Mike Trout, who drove in five runs with a pair of homers and a bases loaded walk.

Trout got the Angels on the board with a solo home run - his 4th - in the 2nd inning, then increased the lead to 4-0 with a 3-run blast in the 4th. When he came to the plate in the 5th inning with the bases loaded and three runs already in, Jeff Gray, who had come on in relief of starter Anthony Vasquez, issued his third walk to as many batters, forcing in Trout's 5th RBI.

Trout would eventually cross the plate for the third time on a sac fly as the Angles plated eight in the frame.

The win left the Angels still chasing the Rangers, 3 1/2 games back. The Rangers beat Tampa Bay, 2-0, maintaining their division lead.

National League

Halladay: 16-5

With the assortment of bats in the Philadelphia lineup, Roy Halladay normally doesn't have to do much hitting when he's working the mound as part of the regular rotation, but he helped his own cause on Tuesday with a bases-loaded double that turned a 3-0 lead into 6-0 with one swing.

Not that Halladay needed to clear the bases. His 6th-inning hit came as he was en route to going 16-5 on the year, holding the Reds to two hits while walking two and fanning nine over seven innings in Philly's 9-0 rout.

The win improved the Phillies' lead in the NL East to 7 1/2 games over the Braves, who have lost two straight while the Phillies have put together back-to-back wins over the Reds.

Halladay is third best in the NL in three major categories: Wins (16), ERA (2.47) and Ks (191).